Points v Calories

laur357

I lost about 35 lbs on Weight Watchers. It was fine, but there were a number of reasons it wasn't for me. (Money, pushing expensive WW products and their activity tracker constantly, most at my meeting place assuming that eating fat = gaining fat, etc.) I know a few doctors who recommend it because they have patients who have successfully lost weight with WW. WW has a basis in current nutrition science (the WW program, not necessarily the person leading your meeting) and cognitive-behavioral intervention to change habits. Support and face-to-face accountability are also really beneficial for some.

I prefer MFP because I can easily track fiber and protein. I also lose more consistently with MFP because I'm aware of the calories contained in fruits and vegetables, and I can see where I'm inconsistent. MFP doesn't cost $50+ a month to use and it works with a variety of other apps and products. No one reprimands me because I prefer to skip breakfast and eat two larger meals a day instead of the standard three meals plus snacks. The knowledgebase of food and nutrition info is way more extensive than WWs so tracking is faster. This is more likely to help me long-term, as I can change my goals as I see fit. I don't have to stay within 2 pounds of an assigned goal.

It was also difficult for me to attend meetings for weeks on end with the same people who came in with a thousand excuses every time and whined because their weight went up or got angry because other people where losing ("I did so well this week, except we went out to eat four times and I didn't track it" and "I wasn't tracking my mashed potatoes because they're a vegetable") - kind of demotivating. I'm sure this really depends on your meeting and group though.

JeanMBK

I have done both more than once and have been more successful with MFP this time around.

sherbear702

I was successful losing weight with WW. Even though WW calls itself a points system, it is still calorie counting. They've just converted it into a handy dandy number system for easy use. If you make something easy, people will be more likely to stick with it.

Having said that, I prefer MFP over WW. It's basically the same thing. You still log and track all your foods, the community on MFP is way better than the WW community, you're still learning portion control and best of all it's FREE!

bpetrosky

WW points were originally designed as a way to make it easier to manage portions without direct calorie counting back when large food databases were not easily available. The databases that did exist were pay-to-use and very limited, and the food logging abilities were crude.

That system replaced the older exchange based system but they're fundamentally similar. It simply relies on the idea that certain categories of foods are going to fall in a certain range of calories (starches, proteins, etc). It works ok as far as that goes, and a lot of people can lose weight that way.

Somewhere along the line WW decided to encourage their users to eat more fruits and vegetables by categorizing those as 'zero points'. It's not well communicated that there is a limit of 'zero point' servings one should have, however. WW has also been slow to evolve from the old 'fat is bad' advice.

Now that online food databases like MFP are easier (and free) to access and use to calorie count, WW doesn't have much advantage. I think there's a place for it for people who just aren't inclined to count calories, but that's about it.

jemhh

I think that the big advantage of WW is the availability of in-person support via the weekly meetings. They are not for everybody, for sure, but a lot of people benefit from them.

tephanies1234

WW is calorie counting in the end. I did it for a couple months and believe I calculated each point to be 40-50 calories. It's fine if you have quite a bit to lose. It won't work too well if you're already at a healthy weigh trying to get leaner. Exact numbers are better than general estimations in the latter case.

kshama2001

suziecue20 wrote: »

1shauna1 wrote: »

I have done both. The thing a lot of people like about WW is the banking of points, so you can have a really high day. I dunno, I prefer the calorie counting here. I love how when I exercise, it gives me more calories for the day. And the database is huge, plus I love to import recipes from Pinterest and other sites. The MFP mobile app is really good too (I have it on my phone and my tablet).

One thing I have noticed on MFP is that I can input my own recipes to know the calories but unlike WW there is no section for accessing loads of healthy recipes but this is a free site and WW were charging me £12 a month so mustn't grumble.

Here are the recipes, complete with a Log It button: https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/category/eat/recipes/

If you subscribe, you'll get them via email once or twice per week.

suziecue20

Oh kshama, you angel, thanks sweetheart

Shells918

I was a devoted weight watcher follower, and even a weight watcher leader. I think that it can be a successful diet for people who have never diet before and may need help learning how to eat healthy. I lost 80 pounds in 18 months. It can definitely work. However, you may wonder why or how I put the weight back on. Well, life happens, illnesses happen and here I am trying to lose weight. Now, weight mwatchers will not work for me. It is what I would call a straight on diet where you could eat a little bit of everything if you would like to. The trainers you go through a pretty extensive amount of training, and I really enjoyed learning everything. However now I need to do a different type of diet, and doing a low-carb one instead. When I tried we watchers several months ago, I lost 1 pound. I have now lost around 15 pounds in the last two months. That doesn't mean that we watchers is bad it just means it's not for me. Everybody has to find their comfort level, and everybody has to do what makes them happy while they are dieting. I found the meetings very helpful, because everybody would talk about what they were cooking what they were doing for exercise and how they were handling their new bodies when they lost weight. So it's actually, similar to this group where everybody is talking about very similar things.